Codelco Retains 100% of 2025 Profits for the First Time

What happened

On August 10, Chile authorised Codelco to capitalise 100% of the profits corresponding to its 2025 financial year. Codelco described the decision, agreed by the ministries of Finance and Mining, as the first time the state owned copper company will retain all of its annual profits.

The amount is US$2.422 billion. The resources will remain in the company and are intended for operational continuity and its project portfolio, reducing the need to increase debt. Codelco also clarified that the figure includes the accounting valuation of its participation in NovAndino Litio.

The government linked the capitalisation to Codelco’s forthcoming Strategic Recovery Plan. The company says the capital will be managed with financial discipline and directed toward investments considered necessary to recover productive capacity, strengthen operating cash flow and contain leverage.

Signal reading

The decision changes the immediate allocation of value between the Chilean state and its mining company. Rather than withdrawing the 2025 result for fiscal use, the state is allowing the value to remain within Codelco so that the company can finance operations and projects from a stronger capital position.

The distinction between accounting profit and available cash remains important because the capitalised amount includes the valuation of the NovAndino Litio participation. The strategic effect will therefore be measured through actual cash allocation, debt containment, project delivery and the recovery of production.

Next proof point: publication of the Strategic Recovery Plan, disclosure of how the retained value will be allocated, Codelco’s debt trajectory, progress on priority projects and measurable recovery in production and operating cash flow.

What happened

On August 10, NioCorp published an updated feasibility study for the Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project in Nebraska. The study outlines a 40 year integrated mine and processing operation expected to produce eight products: ferroniobium, scandium trioxide, titanium tetrachloride, NdPr oxide, dysprosium oxide, terbium oxide, SEG carbonate and heavy rare earth carbonate.

The company reports a pre-tax NPV at an 8% discount rate of US$4.1 billion, a pre-tax IRR of 24% and estimated upfront capital of US$1.849 billion. Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves total 45.9 million tons and support the stated 40 year mine life.

Completion of the study satisfies a key U.S. Export Import Bank due diligence requirement. NioCorp expects the next work to include detailed engineering and engineering, procurement and construction contracting, while making clear that the amount, timing and outcome of any EXIM financing remain uncertain.

Signal reading

The updated study reframes Elk Creek as a diversified domestic mineral platform rather than a single product project. One ore body is being designed to supply eight materials for which the United States remains import dependent, with mining and processing located within the same planned operation.

The geopolitical case and the economic model are connected. The study uses assumptions reflecting non China markets for scandium and rare earths, where export restrictions and supply concentration have supported higher prices. Those assumptions, together with the US$1.849 billion capital requirement, remain central project risks.

Next proof point: progress toward a final EXIM commitment, a defined financing mix, detailed engineering, EPC contracting, updated capital validation and construction milestones beyond the mine portal.

What happened

On August 10, Sylvatex and OneJoon announced a strategic partnership intended to move Sylvatex’s precursor free lithium iron phosphate cathode technology toward commercial scale production in the United States.

The partnership combines Sylvatex’s process and domestic input strategy with OneJoon’s battery material equipment, thermal processing, milling and scale up expertise. The work program links process validation, representative equipment testing, pilot production and design, front end engineering, procurement, commissioning planning and future facility expansion.

The stated objective is to validate the process on commercial equipment before major plant capital is committed, reducing engineering uncertainty and supporting customer qualification. The announcement does not yet define a commercial plant size, capital budget or commissioning date.

Signal reading

The significance lies in the structure of the scale up pathway. Battery material technologies often perform successfully at laboratory scale while encountering equipment, quality control, operating cost and qualification constraints during industrialisation. This partnership places those interfaces inside one coordinated plan.

Next proof point: pilot scale operating data, representative customer samples, qualification progress, completion of front end engineering, a commercial facility decision and a funded procurement and commissioning schedule.

What happened

In results published on August 10, Barrick reported that the Lumwana Super Pit Expansion remains on schedule, with first copper from the expansion targeted for the end of the first quarter of 2028.

During the second quarter, the second lift of the mill walls and roller slab was completed, civil works for the primary crusher advanced and civil construction began on the overland conveyor transfer towers.

Barrick also reported that most major long lead equipment is now on site, including the mill shells and trunnions, primary crusher and tailings thickener. These are physical milestones inside the processing and material handling system required for the expansion.

Signal reading

Copper supply forecasts depend on projects crossing a long sequence from resource and study into procurement, construction, commissioning and stable throughput. Lumwana is now visible in that physical conversion process through concrete works, structural progress and delivered long lead equipment.

Next proof point: equipment installation, completion of the crusher and conveyor systems, commissioning progress, adherence to the project schedule and first copper from the expansion by the end of Q1 2028.

What happened

On August 10, Largo announced that Brazil’s National Mining Agency had approved the production and sale of copper, platinum group metals, nickel and cobalt as by products from the Maracás Menchen vanadium mine in Bahia.

Industrial-scale flotation tests conducted during 2026 indicated the potential to produce a commercial grade copper PGM concentrate containing copper, platinum, gold, palladium, silver, cobalt and nickel. Largo is beginning the production ramp up using its existing vanadium processing plant and ilmenite flotation infrastructure.

The company is temporarily suspending ilmenite concentrate production to maximise copper PGM output and is discussing commercial terms for a possible first shipment with smelters and traders. Production and sales guidance is expected with its August 14 quarterly results.

Signal reading

This development uses process integration to extract additional value from material already being mined and from infrastructure already in place. The pathway can reduce incremental capital and shorten execution relative to a standalone greenfield circuit, while improving the use of the existing mineral resource.

Start-up remains an early commercial threshold. Recovery, concentrate grade, impurities, treatment terms, customer acceptance and the effect of suspending ilmenite production will determine whether the technical opportunity produces durable economic value.

Next proof point: August 14 production guidance, a first commercial shipment, disclosed recoveries and concentrate specifications, sustainable buyer terms and evidence that the new circuit improves margins without weakening core vanadium performance.

What happened

On August 10, Western Copper and Gold outlined its 2026 site program at the Casino copper gold project in Yukon while the project continues through assessment by the Yukon Environmental and Socio economic Assessment Board.

The program includes geotechnical drilling and permafrost investigations across the proposed tailings management facility, heap leach facility, stockpile areas and open pit. Metallurgical holes in the oxide cap will support recovery test work, alongside test pits, ground geophysics and a drone magnetics survey.

Western says the purpose is to deepen engineering design and optimisation, prepare for the technical analysis phase of the YESAB Panel Review and support future permitting. The program develops the evidence base; it does not constitute an assessment decision or a construction authorisation.

Signal reading

Regulatory execution in mining depends on the technical quality of the project submitted for review. Tailings, permafrost, heap leach, pit design, metallurgy and recovery are connected to environmental performance, project economics and the credibility of future permit applications.

Casino is therefore advancing through a mining viability interface: engineering must become sufficiently detailed to support assessment, and the assessment process can in turn require design changes, additional evidence and new operating commitments.

Next proof point: progression through the YESAB technical analysis process, responses to information requirements, evidence of design optimisation, subsequent permit applications and a project plan capable of moving toward financing and construction.